PIGEON IN THE BOOTH

In 2006, when I was 11 years old, I went to the Streatham Odeon to see X-Men: The Last Stand.

The screening was cut short when a pigeon flew into the cinema and nested in front of the projector, blocking out half the screen. Employees tried and failed to eject it. Refunds were offered.

The image of the bird’s silhouette always stuck with me — an unwitting but disruptive force to the everyday forces of art and commerce.

This is what Pigeon in the Booth is all about.

Disruption. Rebellion. Flying in the face of the familiar.

ABOUT ME

Having come from a long line of playwrights and actors, it’s unsurprising that I gravitated towards the arts. And it was cinema, more than anything else, that got its hooks in me — from Buster Keaton to David Lynch, from the Archers to the Shaw Brothers, cinephilia has fundamentally shaped me as a person.

After a degree in Film and Literature, I worked as a film critic for several years, attending the Cannes and London Film Festivals as an accredited member of the press. I then went on to work at ITV, which was as good a training ground as any in learning the ropes of directing, producing, writing, and editing. I’ve since written several screenplays, acted in a play, and even published my own video game.

If there’s an attitude I’ve tried to preserve throughout my career, it’s to always listen, learn, and — of course — watch. Carefully.

Sam Gray